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The Charles J. Opitz Reference Collection of Primitive/Odd & Curious Money

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The Charles J. Opitz Reference Collection of Primitive/Odd & Curious Money
The Charles J. Opitz Reference Collection of Primitive/Odd & Curious Money
Mr. Opitz has personally selected highlights of his outstanding reference collection of Odd & Curious Money (1986,1990), including many examples illustrated in his catalog, An Ethnographic Study of Traditional Money (2000), here cited simply as “Opitz.” Nearly every lot has been off the market for decades. Though all continents are represented, this collection is particularly rich in the traditional money of the South Seas and New Guinea, many collected by Mr. Opitz personally on his visits there. Others were found in collections purchased by him. Many are very rare, and nearly all carry Mr. Opitz’s inventory number on a tiny attached label, proof of their pedigree to this famous collection.
A number of items are pedigreed to the famous Howard Gibbs Collection; Mr. Gibbs was very aggressive in securing examples of these perishable currencies at the time they were still in use.
The collection presented here offers a very comprehensive selection of “primitive” and traditional money of the world and should serve as a lasting reference which will be cited for years to come.
Charles J. Opitz, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in Accounting. He began collecting traditional money while in college, intrigued by the stories of its usage in various cultures. He and his wife, Karen, traveled throughout the world researching and collecting ethnographic money items directly from the people using them. This interest in cultures and collecting led them to the Solomon Islands, West Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Russia, Japan, and India– 83 countries in all. He has been collecting traditional money since 1958. He currently resides in Ocala, Florida.
Comments by Charles J. Opitz follow many of the lots.